Our Last Day
by SomberWings
Summary: Sakura is about to turn seventeen and be indirectly forced to choose a husband.She tells Syaoran that she wants to have one more adventure before she’s thrown into the lion’s pen.She and Syaoran go out into the city and they spend one last night together.
1. What's Wrong Birthday Girl

**Before you read: **

**I haven't yet read every single chapter of Tsubasa, but for this stories purposes I really didn't need to. This story takes place after Syaoran and Sakura return to the kingdom of Clow. I don't know if she eventually got back her memories of Syaoran or not, but in this story she did and they are all getting ready for Sakura's seventeenth birthday.**

**Chapter One: (What's Wrong Birthday Girl?)**

Sakura sat silently at her window, contemplating the hectic scene below her. There were hundreds of people, all of them getting ready for _her_ birthday party. It was days like this that made her despise being a princess even more than usual. She didn't see why they all wanted to celebrate. It wasn't like this was just another birthday party. Didn't they know what was going to happen after she turned seventeen? So why were they rushing things?

"Sakura." A voice called from the door way. It was a male voice, and on a normal occasion she probably would have been quite annoyed by the intrusion, but she knew this voice and she loved it too much to hate.

"Syaoran!" She squealed, jumping from her seat and pouncing at the startled boy. "Boy am I glad to see to you!" She hugged him fiercely then pushed him away and sunk to the floor. "I can't stand this! Why is everyone so happy?"

"Well…" Syaoran began, stumbling towards Sakura and helping her up. "It's because they don't really have a princesses' birthday to celebrate every day you know." Seeing the dejected look on Sakura's face made him keep talking. "Your subjects love you very much. Every one of your birthdays is a reminder that they won't be able to celebrate with you forever. It makes them sad, and sadness fuels people's hearts and makes them do things they normally wouldn't."

Sakura walked over to the window and reassumed her perch. "I can understand that… but don't they realize that this birthday is going to be different than all the others. Why don't they understand that the sooner I turn seventeen, the sooner I'll be gone?"

Syaoran scratched his head awkwardly. "That's not- you don't know that for sure."

Sakura laughed. "Believe me Syaoran, this is one of the few things that I _do_ know for sure." She looked down at the people once more. "Before my parents died… they had arranged for my brother and me to get married. My brother was able to weasel our way out of the agreement, and it was fine for him because he's a boy, but it's different for me. The minute I turn seventeen there will be ball after ball after ball. Almost every single night I will have to fraternize against my will, and be forced to choose my one and only love out of a group of complete strangers. It's what happens when a princess comes of age. Everyone wants a peace and the princess is just the defenseless animal caught between all the ravaging dogs."

"You don't have to choose…" Syaoran was getting uncomfortable, a fact that was becoming increasingly more apparent by his fidgeting.

Sakura looked at Syaoran. "I appreciate your concern, but it's something that can't be avoided. If I don't choose a husband within the first year, everyone will gossip. They'll come up with all sorts of lies about me, my brother, and even the kingdom. We'll loose credibility as a royal family, and people will began to take my brother less seriously. They'll overlook him at important parliament meetings, and he'll be the last on the list to be invited to every social event. By me not taking a husband, the Kingdom of Clow could very well fall into ruin… and I couldn't do that to my brother. So don't you see? Taking a husband is one of the most important things a princess has to do."

"But that won't necessarily happen." Syaoran mumbled.

Sakura smiled sadly. "Yes it will. It always has, and I'm no different from all the other countless princesses who had to do it too." She sat up straight. "It's my duty."

Syaoran looked away. Something was just so worrying about her sudden air of confidence. "But…" He began, not quite sure of what he was about to say. "Isn't your duty also to your heart?"

"Yes…. Yes it is…." Sakura whispered. "And my heart is telling me not to care what people will think… and it hurts so bad at the thought of marrying a man that I don't love, but my heart isn't always what I need to be listening too. Sometimes my head needs to take charge."

Syaoran suddenly got angry. He turned to face her. "But why now?" He yelled. "Why would you choose _this_ time to listen to your head?" His face was flushed, but he calmed himself down. "I've known you for so long, and ever since I've known you, every time you needed to make an important decision, you would close your eyes and wait for your heart to talk to you. Why would you change that now?"

"Because." Sakura began, her eyes filling with tears. "I am an adult now, and that's what adults do…."

Syaoran felt a pang of guilt wash over him, but he quickly wiped it away and stormed out of the room, a cloud of anger hovering over him.

Sakura watched his back disappear down the hallway, and sighed.

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The next morning came quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly for Syaoran. He awoke in a bitter mood, which wasn't made any better by remembering the fact that the next day would be Sakura's seventeenth birthday. His heated thinking was interrupted by a knock on the door. He looked up surprised. What in the heck would anybody want with him at this time of the morning?

He walked over to the door and opened it--nothing. Not even a cat lingered in the dark streets in front of his house.

'What was that all about?' He thought, and finally looked down. Sitting there on his doorstep was a tiny peace of white paper. He picked it up and unfolded it. Inside there was a short message written in the flowery handwriting that he had come to love.

"Meet me at the site." He read out loud.


	2. The Last Day

**If you guys haven't ever watched, or, more than likely, don't remember the original TV series that aired on the W.B., then I would like to inform you that there will be a few references to it. Tomoyo and Meiling are both characters from the series. **

**Tomoyo was Sakura's best friend, always filming her and making new costumes for her. Everyone thought it was strange that she would always tell Sakura she was cute, and her feddish for anything pertaing to the young clow master was even more disturbing. **

**Meiling was Syaoran's cousin/fiancée and she would always come after Syaoran. She was a skilled martial artist.**

**I hope that that filled you in! Even though this knowledge isn't really necessary to enjoy the story, I just felt like it was my duty to supply you with it.**

**Please enjoy the second chapter of "Our Last Day"**

**Sakura+Syaoran FOREVER!!!**

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**Chapter Two: (The Last Day)**

The day was bright and the air was crisp, which was amazing considering what dark and looming fate tomorrow had in store. Syaoran couldn't believe that everyone wasn't mourning, and had now opted Sakura's opinion on things. Why _was_ everyone so happy? It just didn't make any since. Why weren't they as miserable as he was? Couldn't they see what was being set in motion?

Syaoran reached the dig site at a quarter till eleven. _'This place brings back a lot of memories.' _He thought. It was in this very place where he had almost lost something very dear to him. He would never forget that day. The day Sakura's powers were awoken and the day he was thrust headlong into a journey to save her life.

They had kept the site intact. All of its structures were the same as on that day. Even the very pebbles and stones hadn't dared to move. There was something eerie clinging to the air, something that Syaoran couldn't quite put his finger on. _'Maybe it's just all the memories this place brings back….'_

"Syaoran!" A lyrical voice cried from behind him. He began to turn and face his visitor but was tackled before he ever got the chance to do so. "Syaoran! You came! I'm so glad!" Sakura squealed as she clasped Syaoran in fierce bear hug.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Syaoran gasped, pushing the excited princess away gently. "Now, what exactly is _it _that you brought me out here for? Tomorrow's your birthday. Aren't you supposed to be posing for some portraits, or getting fitted for something?"

His joke was taken offensively. "I'll have you know that I snuck away from TEN maids just for you, Syaoran! You could at least act a little happy to see me!"

Syaoran laughed. Seeing Sakura trying to be angry was amusing. "Sorry." He said. "I didn't know. Now, what are we here for?"

Sakura smiled mischievously. "I'm going to be seventeen tomorrow." She began.

"Yes, we've established this." Syaoran said, still smiling.

"Well, as I was saying. I am going to be seventeen tomorrow and, as I explained yesterday, will most definitely have to get married sometime in the coming year." Sakura looked very excited about what she was going to say next, and this worried Syaoran. "So I've decided that I want to soak up what little free time I have left in true fashion!"

"And how would that be?" Syaoran asked which was apparently what Sakura had wanted because she giggled uncontrollably.

"We are going on a date!" Sakura was beaming; her plan obviously made a lot more sense to her than it did to Syaoran.

"What?" The startled boy exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

"Not a real date silly!" Sakura was still giggling. "I want to go and have fun! Do whatever it is that real teenagers do!"

"Um, Sakura?" Syaoran said hesitantly. "Neither of us is what most would call… normal teenagers. You've lived in palace most of your life, watched over by guards and maids your every waking moment, and I grew up on the dig site… well except for the times my father and I studied abroad, but even then I was treated mostly as an intellectual equal. Not a teenager."

"Well then. I guess we'd better start now, so we can figure out what being a teenager is really all about!" And with that, Sakura hooked Syaoran's arm in hers and led him off in the direction of the city.

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There first trip was to a little bakery that Sakura had overheard one of her chamber maids talking about. Her face lit up as soon as she saw what was behind the glass counter. "Look!" She exclaimed. "It looks like Makona!"

The lady behind the counter was bewildered. "What's a Makona?" She asked. "That there pretty lady is a mako bun. It's made of dough and its deep fried. When it's done, we fill it up with honey cream and sprinkle it with powdered sugar."

Sakura almost passed out from excitement.

"So I'm guessing you want one?" Syaoran asked. Sakura's squeal was enough of an answer. "We'll take too."

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Thirty minutes and 20 mako buns later, Syaoran and Sakura made their way to the town center. If they were looking for any kind of excitement, this was where they would find it. The large square bustled with activity. Merchants sat here and there, shouting out that their product was the finest in all the country. People lined up to watch puppet shows and street performances. It was amazing.

Sakura began running about excitedly, rummaging around different stands, ooing and aahing at all the different attractions. Syaoran had to save her twice from being trampled by the huge swarms of people.

"Be more careful." He fretted, dusting off his pants because of the fall he'd taken saving Sakura from a very happy group of over grown wolf pups. "If something happens to you The King will have my head."

Sakura giggled giddily. "You worry too much!" She attached herself to his arm and propelled him forward.

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"So, are we done?" Syaoran asked, as they returned to the dig site sometime around twilight.

"One last thing." Sakura said, steering him towards a high hill which overlooked the kingdom of Clow. She sat down and patted the ground beside her.

Syaoran hunkered down next to the expectant princess awkwardly.

"Let's watch the sunset!" Sakura said happily. "And then we can look at the stars!"

Seeing Sakura this happy made Syaoran want to reach out and hold her. Not letting go until the goddess Wendy herself pried them apart, but he wasn't exactly the type to do such things, so he looked at the stars instead.

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Syaoran sat there awkwardly. "So… tomorrow?" He said slowly.

"Yep, tomorrow." Sakura sighed. "Tomoyo's coming."

"Oh, really? Isn't she your cousin from Seijou?" Syaoran asked, accepting the distraction.

"Yeah, she wanted to get here early but she ran into… an obstacle." Sakura smiled.

"What?"

"Meiling."

"Meiling?!" Syaoran jumped at the girl's name. That was the worst week of his life….

"Meiling." Sakura laughed at Syaoran's obvious discomfort. "Don't worry. She's not coming. Tomoyo managed to fend her off without loosing any limbs, but she did hold her up for a few days. I asked her how come and she said that all she did was ask about you." Syaoran flinched. "If I'd said anything about you, what I'd said, if I'd sent pictures, what you looked like. You've got yourself quite the admirer Syaoran!"

Syaoran laughed awkwardly. "Yeah… right." He shrugged off his discomfort. "So, any ways, as I was saying. Tomorrow-"

"Tomorrow's going to come." Sakura interrupted him.

"What?" He asked confused.

"Tomorrow's going to come." Sakura said once more. "No matter how much we may not want it too, no matter how much would break our hearts, it's going to come."

Syaoran looked at his feet. "I know." He slammed his fist into the ground beside him. "But I just feel so helpless! Are you sure that what you said would happen _will_ happen?"

He turned his amber eyes on her, hope shining brightly in their depths.

Sakura placed her small hand over his. "Yes. It's inevitable."

For a minute all Sakura did was stare at the young archaeologist as if determining something. Finally she made up her mind and began to speak. "And I can only hope that I might find someone as special as you." She hung her head. "Someone that I can hold dear to my heart and make precious memories with."

Syaoran hugged the Sakura's small shoulders, pulling her close.

"Syaoran?" The girl whispered into his chest.

"Hmm?" Syaoran answered.

"I love you."

Syaoran sighed. "I know."

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**I hope that you guys, more than likely girls, aren't mad at me for not making Syaoran say, "I love you too." It just seems so played out and cliché. So I opted for the Star Wars version and made Syaoran pull a Han Solo, but I think that it's much more romantic that way.**

**It didn't take long to write this chapter and I hope that the next doesn't take long either. It's a rather short story but I hope that you guys still like it. Send some reviews! I'd like to know what you guys think, and if you'd even like another chapter. Ending it here would seem somewhat lacking.**


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